Khwarazmian

Historical Overview Section

Khwarezm covers a series of states on the Amu Darya river delta of the former Aral Sea, in Greater Iran (now modern Uzbekistan), extending across the Ust-Urt plateau and possibly as far west as the eastern shores of the northern Caspian Sea. Their neighbours to the south were the Khurasanian Dynastiess, to the north the Early Alans, to the southeast Kangju and Sogdian Transoxiana, and on the northeast with the Hunnic tribes of Transoxiana.

Khwarezm was a province of the Ghaznavid Empire from 992 to 1041, but in1077 the governorship of the province, which now belonged to the Seljuk Turks fell into the hands of a former Turkic slave of the Seljuq sultan allowing them to throw off Abbasid Arab control and found the Khwarezmid Empire which by the early 13th century ruled over all of Persia under the Shah Allah al-Din Muhammad II. Around 1141 YelÃ¼ Dashi took control of Khwarezm, making it part of the Kara-Khitan Khanate. Then from 1218 to 1220 Genghis Khan and his Mongols launched the invasion of Central Asia and destroyed the Khwarezmid Empire, leaving the then Sultan to flee to India, although the fast-moving Mongols caught up with him before he got there and defeated him and his army at the Battle of Indus. The Sultan escaped and sought asylum in the Sultanate of Delhi, but this was turned down as delhi was indebted to the Abbasid Arab Caliphate, who were still somewhat narked that the secession of the Khwarazm empire from their own sphere of influence. The Mongol control over his homeland was however light, and the Sultan was able to return to Persia, gather an army and reestablish his kingdom - but spent the rest of his days struggling against Mongols, pretenders to the throne and the Seljuk Turks of Rum. He lost his power over Persia in a battle against the Mongols in the Alborz Mountains and fled to the Caucasus and captured Azerbaijan in 1225, setting up his capital at Tabriz. In 1226 he attacked the Georgian kingdom and sacked Tbilisi. Following on through the Armenian highlands he clashed with the Ayyubid Egyptians, forcing them into an alliance with the Seljuk Turk Sultanate of RÃ»m. After many more scrapes, he was murdered in 1231 by an assassin hired by the Seljuks or possibly by Kurdish highwaymen.

Further remnants of the army raided south into Seljuk lands in Syria for the next several years, calling themselves the Khwarezmiyyas and were hired as mercenaries by one faction among the Ayyubids in a civil war. They then invaded Christian-held Jerusalem in 1244, triggering a call from Europe for the Seventh Crusade, but the phone lines were busy and as it turned out, no-one pitched up and the Crusaders would never again be successful in retaking Jerusalem. After taking Jerusalem, the Khwarezmian forces continued south, and on October 17 fought on the side of the Egyptians at the Battle of Harbiyah, northeast of Gaza, killing the remains of the Christian army there, some 1,200 knights. It was the largest battle since the Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187. The remains of the Muslim Khwarezmians served in Egypt as Mamluk mercenaries until they were finally beaten by Mansur Ibrahim some years later.

Using the army in FoG

Like other shooty cavalry armies, your battle plan is usually to stake out as much ground as possible to block enemy Second Moves, at least in some sectors, and leave ample manoeuvre room behind your lines. Getting first move is very helpful so losing the PBI roll is preferred by some players, although your tough Cv may be willing to face the enemy in close combat, so its therefore less critical to keep lots of manoeuvre room to the rear.

Sometimes you are lucky and the enemy deploys with a hanging flank you can readily outwing and envelop, or a good flank march opportunity presents itself, but often the terrain and enemy dispositions limit you to a frontal approach of disrupting, loosening and disjointing the enemy line of battle with shooting, threats, and uncontrolled enemy charges in order to expose gaps, flanks and other weak spots you then exploit with concentrated shooting or timely charges

Destroy or flee enemy Skirmishers, draw their mounted and aggressive foot away from their other troops by skirmishing - he will have to charge shooters to reduce their effect - pick off isolated detachments, and provoke charges where possible. Work around his flank and hunt his BG count filler such as Mobs and LF.

Ultimately your cavalry will need to be the ones to win the battle for you by running down your opponents - remember this and don;t expect your LH to do all the work in eroding enemy morale and competence to breaking point.

One common mistake with all Shooty cavalry is to take advantage of the possibility evade too often - superior armoured cavalry swordsmen are still very potent combat troops against most enemies, and it is often better to advance in 2 ranks (inflicting more shooting as a result) and take on any enemies in hand to hand combat.

The time to commit is once an enemy has gone disrupted, or if they have lost bases - waiting and skirmishing in the hope they go fragmented may well be gilding the lilly.

Useful Links

Fanaticus banner download page with some banners that can be used for this army

Allies

Put information on allied contingents here - including recommendations on which to use, and why.

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army

You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site. This listing only covers "arabic" figures - Turk/Hunninc/Mongol figures are omitted as nearly everyone does some of them.

Essex Miniatures - many generic Arabs, possibly too generic for todays tastes in their Ancients selection, plus a newer 50-strong Crusades Era Arab range of more tailored figures in their Crusades ranges including some Seljuk figures

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